Martin Brundle does not agree with Lewis Hamilton that he would’ve breezed to the victory in Las Vegas had he started higher up on the grid as Mercedes team-mate George Russell “no doubt” had more pace.

Hamilton bounced back from his wretched Brazilian Grand Prix weekend to finish second in Las Vegas, Mercedes clinching a one-two finish as Russell raced from pole position to the victory.

Martin Brundle: No doubt George Russell had more pace

On a cold night in Nevada, Russell led almost from start to finish, only relinquishing the lead once to Hamilton when he pitted before racing to a seven-second victory head of his team-mate.

Hamilton, though, says if he had not made mistakes in qualifying that left him down in 10th place on the grid, the race result may have been a different story.

“If I’d done my job yesterday, it would have been a breeze today [winning],” he said. “But it’s okay, I had fun coming from the back, coming from 10th and the team did a fantastic job.

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“We don’t know why we were so quick this weekend, but that’s the best the car’s ever felt, so I’m grateful to have been a part of getting it to that point.”

However, former F1 driver turned pundit Brundle doesn’t believe it would’ve been a breeze as he says Russell would’ve and could’ve upped his pace if his team-mate had tried to challenge him for the win.

“Hamilton had looked fast, albeit with a few trips up the escape road here and there,” Brundle wrote in his post-race column for Sky F1.

“Sadly for him he had two poor laps in final qualifying when the back end stepped out and he would start a lowly 10th.

“He said post-race that had he started at the front he would have breezed the race, which surprised Russell a little. There’s no doubt Russell had more pace if he’d needed it.

“However, it was a standout drive from Lewis, picking his way through serious contenders up into second place and finishing just seven seconds behind at the flag.

“The fans rightly voted him Driver of the Day, and he answered some questions a few have been throwing at him lately about being over the hill.”

Martin Brundle declares George Russell is the ‘real deal’

Hamilton has just two races remaining with Mercedes before he departs for Ferrari having signed a multi-year deal with the Scuderia.

His Mercedes race seat will go to rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli while Russell will step into the team leader role. Brundle reckons Russell proved on Saturday night that he is ready to lead the Silver Arrows.

“In all the championship noise you must feel sorry for George Russell, who qualified impressively on pole position and simply dominated the race,” said the Briton.

“He was so far out front for most of the 50 laps we hardly saw him given the battles raging behind. It was George’s third grand prix victory.

“Mercedes looked very fast from the opening laps of first practice, and indeed they would lead every session throughout the event.

“Their car simply worked on the cold slick surface, and the team had the good grace to admit they weren’t entirely sure why, which is consistent with the unpredictability of that car this year.

“It was an assured performance from George who is looking very much the real deal in terms of leading that team into the future.”

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